Report: FFR offer French clubs €2m each to stay in Heineken Cup

French clubs have been offered €2 million each by the FFR to commit to playing in the Heineken Cup next season, according to reports in French media.

Pierre Camou, the Federation Francaise de Rugby president, is reported to have chaired a secret meeting at Paris’s Charles-de-Gaulle airport last week which was attended by representatives of the Top 14 clubs, as well as several of their English counterparts.

The claims were reported in French newspaper Midi Olympique.

The FFR chief is insistent that any European competition next season will continue to be governed by the European Rugby Cup.

Camou has been strongly opposed from outset of the announcement of plans for the Rugby Champions Cup.

According to Midi Olympique, the FFR is now ready to ensure that the ERC remains the only show in town by delivering a payment of up to €2 million to each of the French clubs.

Camou has reportedly also proposed the idea of signing any individual players who wish to continue playing in the Heineken Cup onto central federal contracts with the FFR, similar to what the IRFU does with its star players.

Camou is insistent that what the French clubs are planning to do in breaking away to form the Rugby Champions Cup is in contravention of existing French rugby laws.

When the plans for the RCC were first announced, the FFR were quick to warn the Ligue National de Rugby that they had no right to organise a competition without the direct consent of both the FFR and the International Rugby Board.

It is understood that Camou has support from several of the individual French clubs, including Toulon and Biarritz.